Tuesday, 5/2/2017
The Centre for Territory,
Environment and Construction (CTAC) of the School of Engineering of the
University of Minho (EEUM) promoted a Workshop entitled “Cities and Territory –
Challenges and Opportunities” on the 28th April 2017. The event took
place at the Campus of Azurém, in Guimarães.
The Centre for Territory, Environment and Construction (CTAC) of the
School of Engineering of the University of Minho (EEUM) – anchored in the
knowledge in Civil Engineering – has as mission of its Strategic Program
2015-2020 the development of fundamental and applied research, focused on the
themes and challenges of the socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of
cities and territories. As part of its policy of interaction and close
cooperation with society, the CTAC chooses to share the scientific knowledge
produced and to listen to its main partners (companies, local authorities and
other public entities) as a practical methodology for the establishment of its
future research programs.
The Workshop was inaugurated with the lecture "The Urban Mobility
of the Future", by the invited speaker Professor José Mendes, current
Secretary of State Assistant and of Environment. In addition to the
presentation of research topics from the CTAC's areas of competence, the event
counted with parallel sessions with panel discussions on these topics and a
final round table to enhance participants' contributions. Various representatives
of local authorities, businesses, associations and other entities, with a focus
on promoting the development of cities and sustainable territories, were
present in the Workshop.
To
Paulo Pereira, this Workshop allowed “a reinforcement of our research agenda
which, naturally, included concerns and challenges brought by the present
entities". The CTAC’s director also enhanced the
opportunity and the added value of this event for the EEUM: “I believe that
everything which is good for a research centre is also good for the School [of
Engineering]. We are talking about a research centre which is classified as
«good» – despite the intense and relevant activity at national and
international level – although we want to go further and prove to the FCT that
we deserve a better evaluation”, he concludes.
The CTAC seeks to deliver cross-disciplinary science in sustainable
development of cities and territory. The general objectives of the CTAC include
the production of new knowledge in all scientific areas contributing to the
general vision of S4cities – sustainable, smart, safe and smiling cities,
considering all infrastructures (transports, water and wastewater) and
territory, providing a steady improvement of quality of life. The applied
R&D methodologies include computer simulation, laboratory testing, physical
modelling and field works.
+ info: http://ctac.uminho.pt/
